CABL Forum - I Paid $150.00 For Mine....

....can anyone tell me what they are worth????
The M19
The T14E1 binocular was developed at Frankford Arsenal beginning in
1956, through the 1960s. The T14 had a 7 degree field, using an eyepiece
with 3 cemented doublets. The prisms were of heavy flint, with an index
of refraction of 1.649, which allowed increased correction for
spherochromatism & eliminated the need for silvering (in a fast, f3
system, using small prisms, silvering might ordinarily be used). The
optics weighed 13.3 oz., one ounce less than standard 7 x 50 glass, and
further weight loss was achieved in the metal parts.
The T14 was adopted in 1970s as a replacement for the M17 and with
some changes, was mass produced as the M19, beginning in 1975. The M19
has 5 interchangeable, nonmaintainable modules: eyepiece, objective, left
& right housings, hinge pin assembly. Vinyl covering. It uses helical
focus at each ocular, sealed by rubber bellows. The objectives are air
spaced f3 triplets.
Sources:
Yoder, P.R. Two New Lightweight Military Binoculars. Journal of the
Optical Society of America, vol. 50, no. 5, May 1960, pp491-493.
Yoder, Paul. Opto-Mechanical Systems Design. N.Y.: Marcel Dekker, 1986;
pages 26-7, 409-11. (Yoder was one of the designers of the M19.)
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Publicity from Farrand Optical Co. describes their work with Frankford to
develop & manufacture the T13 binocular, which was a 6 x 20 weighing 10
oz. (compared to the standard M13 6 x 30 at 24 oz.) and the T14 7 x 50 at
25 oz. (the standard M17 7 x 50 weighed 53oz.)
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Mil Specifications for the M19 include: Shock, no physical failure after
12 shocks of 75 G. Collimation, +-15 arcmin dipvergence, 40 arcmin
divergence ("20 +-20 arcmin"), at any IPD. Image tilt, 30 arcmin between
images. Resolution, 6 arcsec. Focus, plus or minus 4 diopters.
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The biggest maintenance problems with standard 7 x 50s are sealing &
hinge wear. Repair shops must stock 250 spare parts and 125 special
tools.
Small quantities of the T14 were built by Farrand in 1959 & 1960.
Frankford Arsenal re-designed the T14 in 1960 as the T14E1, which, with a
few changes, became the M19.
In 1980, production of M19 binoculars was at 2,000 per month.
The M19 has an aluminum body The objective lenses are mounted into
their housings, and after assembly & sealing, the metal base is machined
to provide bearing & flange surfaces. The objective cells & eyepiece
cells are sealed with 'elastomeric seals', and the focusing eyepieces are
sealed with O rings.
One prism is bonded to the prism shelf, the second prism is then
bonded to first, and the shelf mechanically fastened to the binocular
body. Final machining of the objective bearing surface on the body is
done after the prisms are installed. Machining uses numerically
controlled machines. The binocular is coated with a fused vinyl.
The tolerances for construction of the M19 are very tight because of
the modular design. Standard binoculars are assembled using parts
selected to match each other, and are then collimated to proper
alignment. If 'worst case' misalingment of all parts was taken as
guideline for establishing limits, tolerances of 0.0002 inch would have
been required, which was not economically feasible. Lower tolerances
were established and a quantity of rejected binoculars was accepted as a
consequence.
"The Army has recognized one possible problem with modularity....it
was feared that, piece by piece, an entire unit could be pilfered and
reassembled with common hand tools. If this becomes a problem, the Army
will not purchase both body housings as spare parts."
--Trsar, W.J., R.J. Benjamin, and J.F. Casper. Production Engineering and
Implementation of a Modular Military Binocular. SPIE vol. 250, 1980,
pp27-36. (Trsar & Benjamin at Bell & Howell, Casper at US Army, Picatinny
Arsenal, N.J.)
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Bell & Howell in Chicago was the contractor for production of the M19,
using Japanese optical elements. Policy required U.S. assembly of the
binoculars. The first M-19 Contract Stocks were delivered by B & H to
the Army at Chambersburg Carlisle Army Depo in late 82. The M-19 was
probably in service by mid 1984, and full issue was accomplished to the
Army and Marines by 1986. The Navy received models with black coating,
without a reticle, by 1987, and are probably the highest quality
examples. Most M-19s that went to Ft. Ord had problems in the left prism
cluster because B & H had assembled the prism clusters using too much or
too little cement. The right side prism clusters will not interchange
with the left clusters.
Other problems were found in the sealing of the eyepiece O ring from
inadequate tightening during assembly, causing fogging of the prism
clusters at the time of issue. The vinyl coating is too thin and chips.
Hildago,Inc. of Texas sold new M19s for $900. in 1984. Based on
contract, the U.S. goverment paid $525 to 600. per unit.
(Various sources, unverified)
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I Paid $150.00 For Mine....